Usefulness of the multidetector computed tomography enteroclysis (MDCT -E) in the detection of SM all bowel neoplasmsUtilidad de la enteroclisis por tomografia computada (E-TC) en la deteccion de tumores de intestino delgado

Abstract

Small bowel neoplasms are rare, accounting for approximately 3-6% of all primary malignancies of the gastrointestinal tract. MDCT-E is an imaging modality that combines the advantages of enteroclysis and helical CT, allowing the detection of small bowel diseases wherever they are located (intraluminal, intramural, or extramural). The aim of our study was to assess the reliability of MDCT-E in the detection of small bowel neoplasms. In our institution, MDCT-E was used to study 600 patients admitted for suspicion of small bowel diseases, between January 2005 and May 2008. A total of 22 (3, 6 %) small bowel neoplasms were identified, all confirmed by histological examination. The neoplasms found in this series were adenocarcinoma (n: 4), lymphoma (n: 3), carcinoid tumor (n: 3), benign GIST (n: 2), benign hamartomatous polyps (n: 2) and secondary small bowel tumors (n: 8). MDCT-E appears to be a reliable method in the detection of small bowel neoplasms, allowing tumor staging to be determined during the same procedure.